Between Life and Death
by meditate16
Summary: This was inspired by FF7 and a little bit of 8 it is the story of Clouds mother (sorry if he doesn't have one or anything noone would tell me)


Between Life and Death

Between Life and Death

__

Prologue

In a grassy meadow a boy sat under the shade of a cherry tree in full blossom and watched her.

She was Cloud, prize pupil of the school and was practising some of the most complicated and secret moves known to anyone in the establishment.

She thought she was alone, totally free to do as she wished but she was watched by him, always. He was watching and waiting…

Cloud inhaled deeply as she moved full of grace into a perfect 'tiger crouch' position, her sword held just inches from her face.

She felt someone's eyes boring into her back. She quickly untangled herself and spun round into an attack position.

What she saw was totally unexpected and shook her off balance causing her to sway as if in a drunken stupor. A small boy was staring at her in an almost quizzical manner. His piercing eyes reminded her of someone.

Someone she had almost forgotten…

'Cloud! Cloud!' A booming voice broke her train of thought as she spun round again to face the person rapidly coming towards her.

Seth came running up to her and as she looked up at him she saw his rippling muscles relax.

'There you are, I've been looking all over for you.' Cloud saw his flushed cheeks and took them as confirmation of his statement.

Seth gazed at her, his coffee brown eyes penetrated her skull and left her brain to be gone through by them.

'You knew I'd be here, my heart is here always.' She said this so quietly Seth had to come closer and bow his head to hear it.

'Lau Gar is looking for you.' he said breaking the moment of silence that had fallen between them hi eyes again searching hers but this time for an answer even she could not guess.

'I have no idea why.' Cloud stated curiosity plain in her voice.

Seth's brow was etched with fear and concern for Cloud and was so evident Cloud did three consecutive backflips leading into a flawless stance for attack to help put his mind at ease.

'Don't worry about me, I can look after myself.'

Seth had always looked after her, ever since she had been small, ever since her brother had died. His face suddenly appeared in her mind and for the third time in the morning she spun round but the strange boy was gone…

'Oh well' Cloud sighed 'I suppose I had better see Lau Gar before she sends a search part out for me.' Cloud's feeble joke did nothing to put her own mind or Seth's at ease about why Cloud's teacher had called for her so suddenly.

Seth leaned forward as if to kiss her goodbye but before he could get close enough Cloud veritably sprinted towards the cover of the looming training school leaving a red faced Seth all alone in the field. Seth slowly shook his head with regret but as he did so he noticed a boy with piercing dark eyes out of the corner of his. He spun round, there was something about him, about those eyes that he seemed to remember…

* 5 years later*

Cloud looked around absolutely disgusted.

She was in a sleazy bar staring blankly at the blaring vid screen in front of her.

Her training completed she had left the school on command of her teacher Lau Gar to search for the being that was slowly but surely draining the energy and life force from her world. When she had been young the world was full of colour and the guardian forces protected the land from all evil but now children were being born into a grey world, a world without colour or light. The guardian forces were gradually disappearing leaving behind of world without laughter. 

She had been chosen for this task, as she was the best warrior the world had seen in a millennia. Seth had wanted to go with her but was not an approved a warrior yet and would have to wait. Until Seth had his warrior's licence she would have to carry out this mission on her own. 

All around Cloud drunkards belched and jeered creating a deafening atmosphere.

Cloud sighed deeply, there were a lot more of them now. Since, since…

She shuddered and snuggled deeper into her soft, down filled jacket. She was cold, despite the warm humid evening and as she shivered again she shut her eyes as if trying to keep something from getting in or maybe to prevent something from getting out…

Cloud looked up again and then looked at her watch impatiently.

'Where is he?' She muttered under her breath 'he said he'd be here.'

She was just getting ready to leave when a scared looking man staggered through the bars swinging doors.

He looked around, wild eyed and staring. When he saw her he half ran half fell over to her and made himself as comfortable as possible on one of the cheap plastic bar seats.

He did this quickly but when he began talking his voice was slurred as if he was drunk like so of the people who littered the face of this god forsaken world. However, his voice had a note of urgency Cloud could not ignore, there was something about it which made her sit up and listen to his tale intently.

'I know! I know! No one thought I did but I do! I do! I found out their secret and now he's coming, coming for me!' The man looked around furtively as if looking for onlookers to this unusual conversation but all the members of this bar were so caught up in their own insignificant lives they were oblivious to what was going on around them.

The man still looked worried and unsure so Cloud made a signal that immediately told him it was all right and he could continue with his narrative.

'I don't have much time, he'll find me soon.' The man said, again peering into every dark corner of the bar his eyes shifting and darting one way and another, never still for a second.

'Who's looking for you? I need to know plea…' 

'No time! No time!' He gasped 'Too powerful, he's got too much energy already, he'll find me and kill me!' He groaned as if in pain

'Where is he? I can help you' Cloud asked desperately

'Too late! It's too late!' The man screeched as he fell to the floor with an agonising gasp.

The people in the bar tried to ignore it but found they couldn't. They all turned around and stared. Cloud knew she was drawing unwanted attention to herself and was wasting the man's precious few minutes left to him.

'It's okay.' She feigned 'Its okay.' She repeated more steadily.

This meagre and pitiful excuse apparently was all the needed to put off this unusual chain of events and get back to their own sad empty lives.

Cloud knelt beside him and lifted his sweaty head onto her lap with the utmost care and delicacy.

His eyes were rolling in his head and his breathing was ragged and heavy.

'Th…Those eyes, those piercing dark eyes' he gasped.

'Who? Where is he?' Cloud asked without much hope for an answer.

'Between li…Between life and death.' He managed with a final torturing breath.

And with that cryptic clue he left Cloud to a place where no one could reach him. 


End file.
